He started playing poker while a student at the University of Wisconsin. After three years at the University he dropped out to play poker full time. In 1989, Hellmuth became the youngest player ever to win the World Series of Poker aged just 24.

As at 2008 Hellmuth has reached the final table of World Series of Poker events over 20 times, with a record eleven WSOP gold bracelets, ahead of the likes of Doyle Brunson and Jonny Chan.

Hellmuth is one of the all time top money winners, having notched up around $4.7 million in tournament prize-money.

Nicknamed "poker brat" (the title of his forthcoming autobiography) because of his tendency to whine, there is some debate as to whether Hellmuth is changing his temperament at the card table.

Phil Hellmuth is the author of Play Poker like the Pros, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws, and The Greatest Poker Hands ever Played.

Phil Hellmuth says that a good poker player can play good strategy and read people well, but: "Great poker players are masters of what I like to call situational analysis. In other words, a great poker player can make quick judgements as to when to make good moves (strategy) based on what has already occurred. For example, I may decide to bet $10,000 in order to bluff out my opponent because I see weakness in him based on the way he is acting or looking."